


The Living Room

by Axelflow



Series: Spire Life [3]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Like Exclusively Fluff, Pranks and Practical Jokes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:55:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24921151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Axelflow/pseuds/Axelflow
Summary: We aren't getting a season 4 so I'm filling the void by writingEnjoy this series of one-shots focused on the best relationship in the series (fight me)
Relationships: Callum & Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: Spire Life [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1771837
Comments: 12
Kudos: 67





	The Living Room

Morning light shone through paned windows onto a small, stained coffee table. Callum sat hunched over with pencil in his hand, his sketchbook on his right, and a book picked from the shelves of the Spire’s library on his left.

Book might be too rigid a word. A more accurate description would be a paper explosion contained by a leather shell. Kept in the haphazard mess of yellowed paper and faded ink were words of magic inscribed in ancient draconian. Callum had spent a good portion of the morning pouring over the book's continents, copying down whatever he could into his sketchbook for further study. It was an arduous process, made doubly frustrating by age of the book and the unfamiliar draconian script. But such challenges wouldn’t be enough to slow him down. He was on the cusp of truly understanding magic and this book would push him over the edge with it’s secrets. 

Unfortunately, all of this amazing information was considered utterly useless to the elf whose head currently resided in the young scholar's lap. Rayla had found Callum scribbling like a man possessed into his sketchbook when she passed by on her way to her daily beatdown with Amaya. Nothing unusual there though. It was only when she returned and found him in virtually the same position did she begin to question what exactly he was doing.

“Knock knock,” Rayla called into the room while giving two quick raps on the doorframe. This was more of a pleasantry than anything else. Callum’s concentration couldn’t be broken by anything less than immediate bodily harm.

She walked over and plopped down beside him on the couch. She peered over his moving arm, hoping to steal a glance at whatever captivated him so thoroughly. Imagine her disappointment when all she saw was a book. Rayla let a huff escape her mouth before weaving under Callum’s arm and resting her head in the valley between his legs. 

Sensing an opportunity to mess with her boyfriend, Rayla reached an arm up and began to play with his hair. Nothing extreme at first, just running her fingers through his curls. This wasn’t exactly part of her plan, but hey, who said she couldn’t take some time to enjoy the small things first? She eyed his face and saw that her actions hadn’t changed his look of concentration. 

Good. 

Rayla began to braid Callum’s hair, deftly pulling it through her fingers in intertwining patterns. It was a bit tricky, doing it with one hand and laying on her back, but before long, a fairly sizable braid appeared just behind Callum’s ear. Satisfied with the result, Rayla continued along Callum’s head, leaving braids scattered throughout his shaggy hair. Multiple times she had to suppress a bout of giggling. He looked ridiculous, a mane of unkempt brown curls containing a veritable forest of woven hair. She slowly let her hand drop, careful not to disturb Callum’s oh-so-important work. Now all she had to do was wait.

Callum flipped to the final page of the leather book, and a small smile formed on his lips. Finally, the end was near. Yes, learning new things was exciting (especially if those new things pertained to magic) but copying down draconian for a couple of hours was bound to get a little bland. With his hand aching, Callum hurriedly scribbled the final lines into his sketchbook.

The pencil left his hand the moment the final letter was inscribed and it dropped onto the table with a clatter. He flexed his fingers, hoping to coax the stiffness out of them.

After each knuckle gave a satisfying pop, Callum turned his attention downwards. His eyes met Rayla’s, and he couldn’t help but smile. Not many people would hang out with him when he was working, and even fewer would provide such a comforting physical presence. Okay, only one person would do that, but the point remained. It was nice having her there, even if his conscious mind didn’t acknowledge it. 

“Finally done?” Rayla asked innocently. 

“It would appear so. And thank Primals too. If I had to copy one more line I’d throw myself off the spire,” Callum said with a tired look on his face. He was ready to pass out, even though it was still morning. Concentrating that hard for that long always took the energy right out of him, but it was nothing a power nap couldn't fix. 

Rayla, observant as she was, noticed this and raised a hand to cup Callum’s cheek. “Awwww, did the little book make the mage sleepy?” she said with a mock pout on her lips. 

Callum responded by knocking her hand from his face, but the smile didn’t leave his lips. He brushed off Rayla’s good-natured teasing and decided to counter with a quip of his own.

“Better sleepy than bruised. How did training with Amaya go, by the way?”

“Do you really have to ask?”

“Not really. I assumed that crashing sound I heard earlier was you getting your butt handed to you on a silver platter.”

“Look, she’s like twice my size and can split a tree in half with a punch. How am I supposed to win?” 

“Why don’t you use some of that trademark moonshadow elf stealth?”

“Callum, how am I supposed to hide in a one-on-one fight in an open room?”

All Callum could manage was a very pensive “Uhhhhhhhh,” and this was when Rayla’s little prank came to fruition. When Callum ran his fingers through his hair, hoping to stimulate his brain, they found themselves obstructed by an hitherto unknown addition . 

“Rayla?”

“Yes?”

“Is there something in my hair?”

“I don’t know,” Rayla said, hoping that the mischievous giddy she was feeling wasn’t as apparent in her tone. “Let’s check.”

Quick as a flash, Rayla sat up and turned towards the table, and with similar speed she drew one of her swords and angled it to act as a makeshift mirror for Callum. She knew her work had been successful when his brow knit into a perplexed arch. She released the laughter that had so desperately craved freedom, almost dropping her sword in the process. 

“I. . . are these braids?” Callum questioned. 

“Traditional Moonshadow braids, in fact,” Rayla pushed out between fits of giggles.

Callum lightly touched one. He had to appreciate the craftsmanship of them. Not a single strand was out of place, and despite their less than ideal placement, they looked amazing. 

“How long did these take you?” 

“I’d guess about 20 minutes. Would have been faster but I did it with one hand.” Rayla said with a shrug while wiping tears from her eyes.

Callum shook his head in bewildered amazement. “Am I really that unobservant?”

“Only sometimes. You’re like a magic brick wall, but with cuter hair,” Rayla flicked a braid to emphasize her point. She put her sword away, satisfied with the result of her handiwork. 

Callum, on the other hand, had just begun to scheme. He didn’t hate the braids, quite the opposite in fact. But he couldn’t let his girlfriend think she could prank him and not expect some sort of repercussion. He had to act quick if he wanted his plan to work.

“You know, I’m feeling a little low on energy after all that writing,” Callum said with an exaggerated yawn and a raise of his arms. “Maybe I’ll take a nap, right here.”

For the second time today, a member of the Katolis Royal family slammed into Rayla. Her balance crumbled under this new weight and she toppled over in a mess of confusion and limbs. Two emotions shoved themselves to the forefront of her brain: anger and intrigue.

She craned her head up to get a good look at her aggressor and was met with an exceptionally smug grin and a pair of smiling green eyes. It was going to be hard staying mad at that. Rayla decided to pursue the other emotion, her anger already surrendering to the unfairly cute visage of her boyfriend.

“Am I supposed to know what you’re doing?” 

“I’m getting comfortable.”

Not quite the answer she expected. Any objection, vocal or otherwise, was quickly smothered by Callum nuzzling into her. His head lay just below her own, a dangerous position in any circumstance made all the more lethal with the unpredictability of love. It was only when her brain reminded her to keep breathing did she finally respond.

“I can see that. Why are you getting comfortable on top of me?”

“Think of it as a bit of payback for the braids,” Callum murmured into her neck.

“What, You don’t like them? And here I was thinking they completed your look of being a complete dork,” Rayla countered, trying not to let his presence distract her too much. 

And then Callum kissed her. Right under the jaw. She might as well have been punched there, the effect was the same. Coherent thought was pushed out by aggressive sensation and the last remnants of her confusion and anger were whisked out when his lips left her. 

“Actually, I was thinking of maybe keeping one,” Callum whispered. He was having fun with this. It wasn’t often he got the better of Rayla, at least in terms of surprise. But if the shivers running through her body were any indication, he was certainly successful. And if kissing her helped him along then who was he to complain? He dipped his head down to kiss Rayla again when a hand reached under his chin and lifted it upward. _So much for surprise._

When their lips parted Callum yawned, this time in sincerity. “You know, I actually am pretty comfortable here. You don’t mind if I take a little nap, do you?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Not unless you can lift me off you.”

“You know I can’t do that. Your aunt turned my arms to mush.”

“Mhmm. Lucky me,” Callum replied drowsily. 

Rayla thought for a second before an outraged smile broke over her face. “You planned this, didn’t you? You knew I’d be too tired to do anything and you took the opportunity to get back at me. Primals, I can’t believe I fell for this.”

Callums smiled in response. But before he could revel in victory his eyes closed themselves and he drifted off into sleep.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> If I'm going to live vicariously through a couple of fictional characters I might as well make it cute.
> 
> If you couldn't tell these little blurbs have sort of become my personal diary and ooh boy is there a lot to say. Got tested for autism. Don't have it but I was labelled as "An extremely unusual subject". Found out that my brain processes things unnaturally fast at the cost of my memory which is both cool and horrifying. God knew I would be too powerful so he had to nerf me.


End file.
